"Hi! How are you?" The woman smiled as she took the seat beside me. She had to lower herself slowly, squeezing her ample bottom into the seat, filling all available space. Positioning herself comfortably, she plopped her enormous arm on our common armrest. Her immensity saturated the space around us, shrinking me and my seat into insignificance.
“嗨，你好！”這個女士一邊坐在我旁邊一邊微笑著說。她必須慢慢地沉下身去，將她寬大的臀部擠入座位中，填滿可用的空間。她坐舒坦之后，把她的粗大的胳膊撲通一聲落在我們共用的扶手上。她的寬大體型滲透到我們周圍的空間，也使我和我的座位縮小到可以無視的狀態。
I cringed and reclined towards the window. She repeated her greeting in an upbeat, friendly voice. "Hi," I replied with obvious loathing. I turned away to stare out the window, sulking silently about the long hours of discomfort I was going to experience with this monster beside me.
我畏縮地靠向窗子。她用愉快的聲音有問候了一遍。“嗨，”我以明顯的厭惡的口氣回答道。然后我轉過頭凝望著窗外，為將要和我旁邊的這個怪獸度過一個漫長時間的折磨而生著悶氣。
She nudged me with her meaty arm. "My name is Laura. I'm from Britain." "Come on, if we're going to spend six hours side-by-side on this flight, we'd better be friends, don't you think?" I reluctantly stayed silent, but Laura took no notice of my unfriendly reactions. Instead, she started talking excitedly about herself and rattled on about her friends waiting for her now at our mutual destination; Indonesia.
她用她肉肉的胳膊肘推了推我。“我名叫羅拉。我來自英國。”“來嘛，如果我們將在這個航班上一起度過六個小時的話，我們最好能成為朋友，你覺得呢？”我很勉強地保持著沉默，但是羅拉對我的不友好的反應毫不在意。反而，她開始很興奮地談關于她自己的事,而且喋喋不休地說她的朋友正在我們共同的目的地印度尼西亞等候她。

I only gave one-word answers to her questions about me. Unperturbed by my coldness, she nodded as she made appreciative comments to them. She was particularly considerate and obliging when we were served drinks and meals, making sure that I had room to manoeuvre in my seat. "I don't want to clobber you with my elephant size!" she said with utmost sincerity.
我對她的關于我的問題只用一個單詞回答。她對我的冷漠泰然自若，一邊對我的回答作出贊賞的表態一邊點頭。當被送上餐飲服務時她表現得尤其體貼和有禮貌，確保我在座位上有活動的空間。“我不想用我大象般的體型使你為難！”她說的時候帶著極大的真誠。
After an hour or so, I couldn't help but let down my guard slowly. As much as she had repulsed me in the beginning, she was an interesting conversationalist. She was well-read in many subjects, from philosophy to science. Her comments were humorous and inspirational.
大約過了一小時左右，我忍不住慢慢放松了我的戒備之心。就像她一開始用體型擊潰了我一樣，她也是一個很有趣的聊天伙伴。她在很多科目上都有所涉獵，如從哲學到科學。她的觀點也幽默且鼓舞人心。
"Have you ever thought about losing some weight?" I finally dared to ask after a while. "No. I've worked hard to get this way. Why would I want to give it up?" "You aren't worried about cardiovascular diseases that come with being overweight?"
“你有想過減減體重么？”過了一會兒我終于斗膽問了她。“不。我費很大勁兒才到這種程度。我為什么要放棄呢？”“你就不擔心伴隨肥胖而來的心血管疾病么？”
"Not at all. You only get the diseases if you're worried about your weight all the time, but there is more in life than worrying about your weight. You always see advertisements from slimming centres that say: 'Liberate yourself from your extra baggage so that you are free to be yourself.' It's rubbish! You're liberated only if you're comfortable with who you are as a person and what you do. Why would I want to waste my time on slimming regimes when I have so many other important things to do and so many people to be friends with?"
完全不用。如果你總是擔心你的體重你才會得這種病，但是生活中有比擔心自己的體重更多的東西。你們總是從瘦身中心看到這樣的廣告：把你自己從額外的包袱中解放出來，你才能自由地做自己。這簡直胡說！只有當你為自己的生活的方式和所作所為感到舒服的時候自己才會真正地被解放。為什么我得在我有很多其他重要事情做的時候，有很多朋友可以交的時候去浪費時間在瘦身養生的事情上？”
Folks often see me as a fat lady with big bosoms, big thighs and a big bottom. They see me as a slob. They think I'm lazy and have no willpower. They're wrong. I eat healthily and walk regularly, and I'm actually a slim person on the inside. I'm just so full of energy that people won't be able to keep up with me if I wasn't this size.
人們常將我看做一個有大胸脯，大粗腿和大屁股的胖女人。他們把我看做懶人。他們認為我懶惰且沒有意志力。但他們錯了。我飲食健康且經常散步，其實我內心里是一個很苗條的人。我就是渾身充滿能量，如果我不是這種體型的話一般人不能追的上我。
Our enthralling conversations had turned my flight into something thoroughly enjoyable. At the arrival lounge of Indonesia Capital Airport, we said goodbye. I watched her walking towards a big group of adoring adults and kids. Cheers sounded. Then, she turned around and winked at me. I was stunned, as the realisation set in: Laura was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life.
我們這段愉快的聊天使我的飛行變得十分令人開心。在印度尼西亞首都機場的抵達大廳，我們相互道別。我看著她走向一群敬慕的大人和孩子們。歡呼雀躍。然后，她轉過身并向我眨了眨眼睛。我被震驚了，這才意識到：羅拉是我生命中見過的最美麗的女士。